1801

There’s an accusation that can be thrown at some projects that they’re not nearly as clever as they think they are. But DXHR feels like a game that’s not nearly as clever as the people making it obviously are. And again, it’s not a case of unrealised ambition, or reaching too far. It’s a genuine shame that your companions’ feedback based on your playing style all but dries up after the very first mission, and I think that certainly was a needlessly missed opportunity to capture something that made the original DX special. Perhaps there they simply bit off too much. But beyond that, I felt like it was holding back.

I’ve not mentioned the original DX until this point because I find comparisons pretty unhelpful. But it’s hard not to recall a few of the game’s more esoteric highlights. The books in the game, a combination of technical and fiction literature, were compelling and mostly went over my head as I reached to understand. In DXHR they’re almost entirely technical documents on various aspects of augmentations, whether how they actually work, or discussion over the debates related to them. None made me think.

The conversations in DXHR are wonderfully voiced and impressively acted, and generally very well written. But none made me realise how little I knew about a subject, nor challenged my philosophy on a matter. And yet it felt like, from the atmosphere and attitude of so much of the game, that those creating it certainly could have achieved this. Wonderful stories are told just by hacking into people’s emails and following the threads of conversations from multiple angles. This is a smartly made game. But I fear it’s not actually a smart game. And as much as I may be otherwise determined to not let my memories of an eleven year old game determine my experience and opinion of this one, I wasn’t able to shake that desire to be playing a game that was demonstrably far brainier than me.

Well, sounds like they yanked the long philosophy debates with bartenders and prototype AIs. Oh well.

1802

Reviews:

Edge - 9
IGN - 9.0
1UP - A
PCGamer - 94/100
Gamespy - 4/5
Joystiq - 4.5/5
Eurogamer - 9
Gametrailers - 8.7
Destructoid - 9.5
TheSixthAxis - 9
Videogamer - 9
IncGamers - 10
C&VG - 94
WorthPlaying - 9.7
Strategy Informer - 9.5
Guardian - 4/5
Metro - 5/5
Telegraph - 4/5
Bit Gamer - 90
Ars Technica - BUY
Rock, Paper, Shotgun - Recommended
GamesTM - 8
MTV Multiplayer Blog - BUY
RPG Fan - 90
VE3D - 4.5/5
X360A - 94
Gamersyde - 5/5
Nowgamer: 360 (7.5), PS3 (7.1)

1803

According to the Ars Technica review the third-person cover system is not automatic. You hold down the right mouse button to move into it. The review is lighter on technical details then I would have liked, but they do recommend the PC version (while saying the 360 version they played was also fine.)

1804

You missed one:

Tom - “But I can say that I think you guys will like it. :)”

;-)

1805

Okay, I see what you guys are saying. I tend to like third person cover because it acts as a bit of cheat for situational awareness, but I understand wanting first person cover (and melee). FEAR 3 did a great job with first person cover, so it’s certainly possible.

1806

If it’s not sticky/automatic, then that makes the third-person cover system optional, right? Other then losing the lean, you can play it first-person if you want, at least from what that Ars Tech review suggests.

We’ll know for sure in a few hours, though. Personally, though I’m not a fan of third-person in general, I do like it in cover mechanisms because it makes it easier for me to see what I’m doing and how well I’m covered. Maybe not as realistic as full first-person, but then real life has more situational awareness then a first-person game gives me anyway so its a “cheat” I’m willing to use.

1807

My understanding is that the cover system requires a button press, so you’re not going to be sucked into the third person cover automatically.

1808

I think I read that in order to sneak, you unfortunately need to use cover, since they didn’t want to implement a shadows system. That part does make me a bit sad, but then again - This is another game, not Thief/Deus ex 1.

1809

I hope i can crouch behind stuff, if the line of sight is blocked they shouldn’t be alerted.

1810

From the Gamespy review (recommendable, the format is a talk between 2 reviewers, one played it shooting his way and the other took the stealth path)

When it comes to an in-your-face fire fight these guys are highly trained assassins, and it takes just one or two bullets to bring on the loading screen… which you’ll stare at for about 40 seconds due to the long loading times.

Dan: Oh, you got that too? I thought it was just my PC showing its age.

Bennett: No, I’ve got a top of the line rig – running a RAID SSD setup that is basically the fastest drive on the market – so it’s clearly an issue with the game itself, and hopefully one that will be rectified by a patch in the not-too-distant future.

Ugh. 40 seconds on a raid ssd???

1811

Oh dear. Long load times can be very hard to fix in a patch, because they reflect the fundamental architecture of the game’s internal data.

And then there’s John Carmack:

That’s how it’s done when it’s done right. Oh well, more incentive to play uber-cautiously and not get headshot, I guess.

1812

Can’t wait for my preload to unlock! The stupid thing is I’m feeling pretty confident this is going to be a better RPG than the last two (Probably 3 once Mass Effect 3 is released) Bioware games. Fucking Bioware can’t even get RPG hybrids right. GRUMP.

1813

It’ll also police my tendency to save scum, which is more than welcome.

Of course I’d prefer they have good tech that doesn’t necessitate glacial load times, but based on what I’m hearing about the game I’ll be able to put up with it.

1814

Now that the reviews are out, only one question remains:

Should I take off work tomorrow to play it? Or just leave early and play it till 3 in the morning.

1815

I’ll say that the beta didn’t really feature what I would consider overly long load times, and my hard drive only scores a 5.9 in Windows 7’s weird little benchmark utility. I’m not sure it’s quite the deal some reviewers make it out to be, unless they are referring to the console versions.

1816

I don’t think you can score any higher than 5.9 unless you’ve got an SSD, my score is the same.

Also, remember that the scale is from 1.0 to 7.9, not 10.

1817

Putting your SSDs in a RAID is like putting a spoiler on a rocket launcher. It might look neater, but it just ain’t gonna make much difference.

1818

Ahem.

1819

Really, a marketing video? How about some real numbers. That’s just the first page of charts. The overall results go back and forth with no clear winner.

1820

I don’t think the quid of the quesiton is if the RAID in SSD is good or bad, or a waste or if it’s valid for the game. It’s more about having long loading times, even with a SSD.